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This week will see a number of indie projects open in select theaters across the country. The 9th Life of Louis Drax is a mystery thriller from horror director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3D) surrounding a psychologist working with a boy young boy who suffers after a near-fatal fall. The film was penned by actor Max Minghella (The Social Network, The Ides of March), whose late father Anthony was an Oscar-winning screenwriter responsible for such gems as The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley. Jamie Dornan (Marie Antionette, Fifty Shades of Grey), Aiden Longworth (Cut Bank, Hector and the Search for Happiness), Sarah Gadon (The Amazing Spider-Man, Enemy), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Exodus: Gods and Kings) star in the film, which is based on a novel by Liz Jensen. Continue reading →

Nearly 20 years ago, Michael Jordan made his return to the NBA after a brief stint playing minor league baseball. Known to many, when Mike came back he wore the number #45 for a short time, the number he wore for the Birmingham Barons. Mitchell & Ness will be re-releasing the iconic Bulls jersey today, March 19th; the anniversary of his return. A nice piece for any collection, these will run you $300 via NBA.com and select retailers.

Last week we posted about the upcoming drama American Sniper from director Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Jersey Boys), based on the life of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who served four tours of duty in Afghanistan. The movie is based on Kyle’s autobiographical book, and stars Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook) and Sienna Miller (Casanova, Stardust) as Chris and Taya Kyle. Check out the trailer here on MADE. The movie is scheduled for release on January 16th.

Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood‘s new drama, American Sniper, will be opening in theaters on January 16th. The film stars Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) as Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle, who recounts his experience in Afghanistan and his 150 confirmed kills. Sienna Miller (Casanova, Stardust) also stars in the film as Kyle’s wife, Taya, and the effects of war on the couple’s family and individual life is depicted through their own separate perspectives. The script comes from Chris Kyle’s autobiography of the same name and was adapted for the screen by Jason Hall (Spread, Paranoia). Eastwood’s last film, an adaptation of the Broadway musical Jersey Girls, was attacked by critics for being a drab alternative to the more energetic and entertaining musical, but when it comes to material on warfare, his style of film making is usually right on par. I guess we’ll find out a month from now, keep an eye out for an upcoming trailer.

With writers in Hollywood constantly falling short of a new and interesting idea for a good movie, filmmakers are continuing to turn to real-life biographies for inspiration, particularly in the music industry. Such is the case with these two upcoming movies, which follow two of the 20th century’s most original musical acts, the charismatic James Brown, and the New Jersey native Frankie Valli. Get On Up follows the story of James Brown’s rise from poverty and imprisonment to international fame and features an all-star cast including Chadwick Boseman (The Kill Hole, 42), Viola Davis (Doubt, The Help), and Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers). The film is directed by The Help director Tate Taylor and comes from a screenplay by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Jersey Boys is a film-adaptation of the award winning Broadway musical of the same title, which follows Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to commercial success from Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby). Other upcoming biopics on music legends includes a film from actor Don Cheadle about legendary jazz musician Miles Davis, and a Jimi Hendrix biopic starring Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). While Cheadle’s project is still looking for some solid financing, Mackie will portray Hendrix in a film that will follow the last 9 days of the iconic musician’s life, with Thandie Newton (Crash, The Pursuit of Happyness) and Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) on board to take on supporting roles for director Ol Parker (Imagine Me & You, Now Is Good). Stay tuned for more updates!

The hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys will be taking a break from the stage to appear on the big screen this summer with director Clint Eastwood’s upcoming film adaptation that follows Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from their early roots on the New Jersey streets to their critical success. John Lloyd Young, who starred in the original Broadway show, will appear in the film as Valli, as well as Christopher Walken and Freya Tingley from a screenplay written by original writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and John Logan. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and will be hitting theaters on June 20. You can catch the new trailer here on MADE.

A few weeks back rumors began swirling that Spike Lee & Ray Allen could possibly be linking back up for “He Got Game 2”. With the NBA testing out it’s “nickname” jerseys, Ray Allen saw the perfect opportunity to showcase the legendary “J.Shuttlesworth” on the back of his jersey. This again has the rumor mills spinning as many believe this is a sign of things to come, no official word on the movie yet but it sounds like it could really happen. Keep an eye out for more info as it comes in.

New Jersey duo Tru Fam sent us their new single entitled “Speed Racing”, which is slated to appear on their upcoming project “Thrill XL”. The carefree, party track zooms along as both rappers showcase their ability to compliment one another well. Keep an eye out for more from Tru Fam as they get set to release their new project, until then peep the video above.

Director Kevin Smith last left the View Askewniverse in 2006 with Clerks 2. Although the film turned out to be a huge success (securing a spot at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival), many of us had expected him to end his string of Jersey films with Jersey Girl in 2006; so when Smith announced he was going to make another Jersey film and that it would be a sequel to Clerks, he understandably took a lot of heat for it. After the success of the movie, however, fans and critics stopped whining about how the director had lost his ability to write something original and was going “back to the well.” But now Smith is planning to once again get his fans up in a stir! Smith finished the script for Clerks 3 earlier this summer, but because the project is supposedly bigger and requires a higher budget, the director is taking on a smaller “warm-up” project as he calls it, in the form of a horror flick called Tusk.

Tusk is the story of a man who was lost at sea with a Walrus for six months, and is now looking for a roommate; but he has a very strange request. The roommate must agree to dress up as a Walrus for 2 hours a day to remind him of his old friend. Pretty fucking weird. The film will, however, require a much smaller budget, and give Smith the chance to make a “warmup pitch” before he begins production on Clerks 3. Smith has said that he wants Tusk to get a slot at Sundance, even though he’s late on the submission. The film will star Justin Long in the role of the Walrus-roommate, so I don’t know if Smith is going for ridiculous-horror-movie that people actually laugh at or a legitimate horror film that can make people jump in their seats. Then again I can’t really imagine what Smith has planned for Clerks 3 either; maybe Randal will get married or Dante will be a shitty father. I just don’t know. Either way, I trust him to make a good sequel…as long as he gets Rosario Dawson to come back!